Unit 4: A Nation Divided

Unit Overview: A Nation Divided

This unit covers the years 1835-1860. Major events/themes found in the unit:

Unit Essay: The Politics of Slavery

In order to complete this project you must write an essay on the following Topic:

Kansas Abolitionist and raider of Harper's Ferry, John Brown

Unit Videos:                                                        

Civil War Episode 1: The Cause

Civil War Episode 2: A Very Bloody Affair

Unit Lectures:

The Politics of Slavery, 1787-1860

The Politics of Slavery Essay Class

Unit Primary Sources:

The Politics of SlaveryThe historian Shelby Foote once commented that the primary cause of the Civil War was that Americans lost their ability to compromise in the three decades preceding the war. Open the attached document, The Politics of Slavery Timeline, which identifies 8 events beginning in the 1830's that center around the politics of slavery. After looking at these events, pick three events from the list and using these events write a 5 paragraph essay of 600 words or more that explains how the lack of compromise between pro and anti-slavery forces in the years between 1830-1860 led to the Civil War.

US History Foundations A Unit 4 Key Terms

For this project you must define the terms listed below and explain each term's significance to the unit/era being studied. Your definition should be 2-3 sentences long and may be copied and pasted from a source like Wikipedia, but the significance of the term must be in your own words and based on your own understanding. To fill out a term's significance, ask yourself, "Why is this item included in my study of this unit? Why is this term in a history book?" The answer to this question is your term's significance. 

Unit 4 Key Terms:

1. Manifest Destiny                   

2. Tariff of 1828                        

3. Nullification Crisis                  

4. Oregon Trail                          

5. Republic of Texas                 

6. Mexican-American War

7. California Gold Rush

8. Wilmot Proviso

9. Compromise of 1850

10. Abolitionist Movement

11. Dred Scott Case

12. Kansas Nebraska Act

13. Bleeding Kansas

14. Uncle Tom's Cabin

15. Frederick Douglass

16. Sumner-Brooks Incident

17. Lincoln-Douglas Debates

18. John Brown/Harper's Ferry

19. Underground Rail Road

20. Election of 1860

Below is an example of a key term done with the proper format:

William the Conqueror: William I (c. 1028[2] – 9 September 1087), also known as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant), was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth.To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris andÎle-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[3] (I copied and pasted this definition from Wikipedia)

Significance: William the Conqueror is significant because his conquest of England created the first nation state in Europe. His rearrangement of English feudal territories to give himself dramatically more power than the the barons and nobles around him caused him to be the most powerful monarch in Europe and eventually led to the rise of other nation states over the next few centuries. (These are my words based on my knowledge of English and European history.)